Frank Luntz Gushes Over 'Refreshing' Chris Christie

Chris Christie may have ticked off a bunch of Eagles and Giants fans with his embrace of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones – but not to worry because Republican Frank Luntz has “refreshingly honest” Christie’s back.

Luntz visited the “Cost of Freedom” special on Saturday where this block of supposedly business programming spent the segment focusing on the 2016 Republican presidential candidates.

First, Luntz and host Neil Cavuto discussed a possible third run run by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. But then Cavuto turned to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s attendance at a Cowboys playoff football game Sunday.

Cavuto asked about the governor’s appearance in Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ skybox. Video of Christie’s celebratory hug with Jones went viral (it’s included in the video below) and Jon Stewart accused him of “backstabbing” New Jersey, as The Washington Post noted.

“Because he’s a New Jersey Governor and he was rooting for a Dallas team,” Cavuto said. Last we heard, Cavuto lives in New Jersey.

Luntz was not to be deterred. He said, “This is what I think is unique about Chris Christie. He’ll say things that you would normally think are really tough to hear, but when you hear them, you actually say you know what, he’s right. If he’s truthful, and Dallas is his team, he’s not going to get hurt out of New Jersey because he happens to like Dallas. People will respect him for telling the truth.”

Cavuto was not to be deterred either. “Doesn’t he have a habit of just digging deeper ditches?” he asked.

“Yeah, but he also has a habit of telling the truth and he does so in such a direct way,” Luntz said. “Neil, Hillary Clinton tried to pretend that she was a fan of New York teams, and nobody believed it. This is refreshing, this is different. The public is looking, and I give Christie credit for this, that he’s willing to take the heat even from this network, that he’s willing to take the heat and just be who he is.”

“You’re missing the obvious point, that who he is looks like a goofball,” Cavuto said.

Luntz insisted, “It looks like somebody who loves their football team, somebody who loves the game.”

Cavuto exclaimed, “This is for the Dallas Cowboys! This is with Jerry Jones! This is a manhug that scares me.”

“Neil, then maybe you need to do a couple more of those manhugs to make you feel more comfortable,” Luntz joked.